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The Sinocism China Newsletter 11.25.13

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

So much for making nice with the neighbors after the Third Plenum.

Beijing announced the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) that covers a large area over the East China Sea, including the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands as well as some airspace in an existing South Korea ADIZ. Japan and the US are upset, China is upset that they are upset, and the risk of an accident has increased significantly.

In the April 2001 “Hainan Island Incident” a US Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese jet over the South China Sea. The US plane made an emergency landing in Hainan while the Chinese plane crashed and the pilot died. It was a tense period in US-China relations but the crisis was ultimately resolved diplomatically. A similar incident, in which a Chinese pilot dies in some kind of accident with a Japanese plane, would be very difficult for Beijing to handle peacefully. Let’s hope that all that happens now is some version of air Kabuki. But this ADIZ is not a constructive move, and hope is not a strategy…

The timing is also interesting, given that US Vice President Biden is visiting China, Japan and South Korea next week.

I participated in a Sinica Podcast last week with host Kaiser Kuo, Gady Epstein of the Economist and James Fallows of the Atlantic. We discussed the Third Plenum and Bloomberg’s China self-censorship. I am of course biased but do think that Doubling Down on Dengism is worth a listen.

Reminder:As announced at the beginning of November, the daily edition of the newsletter will end on November 27 and continue as a weekly from December. For those of you who contributed a lump sum and would like a prorated refund, here is a short form through which you can make your request.

Related:Japan Rejects China’s Claim to Air Rights Over Disputed Islands – NYTimes.com “It was a one-sided action and cannot be allowed,” Mr. Kishida told reporters, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. It could also “trigger unpredictable events,” he warned. On Saturday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also warned in a statement that the American government viewed the Chinese move “as a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region.” He also reaffirmed that the United States would stand by its security treaty obligations to aid Japan if it were attacked…By setting up a competing air-defense zone, China may be trying to demonstrate that its claim to being in administrative control of the islands is as convincing as Japan’s, Japanese officials said. They said China appeared to have a similar objective last Thursday, when Chinese coast guard officers boarded Chinese fishing boat in waters near the islands.

Related:China Imposes Restrictions on Air Space Over Senkaku Islands | The Diplomat “The most striking feature of China’s behavior in its maritime disputes this year has been efforts to redefine the status quo,” Fravel wrote at the time. “In its disputes with the Philippines and Japan, China has used the presence of its civilian maritime law enforcement agencies to create new facts on the water to strengthen China’s sovereignty claims.”

Related:PLA Air Force conducts first patrol in air defense identification zone – Xinhua Shen Jinke, spokesman for the PLA Air Force, said that two large scouts carried out the patrol mission, with early warning aircraft and fighters providing support and cover. “The patrol is in line with international common practices, and the normal flight of international flights will not be affected,” Shen said. Shen said that the Chinese armed forces are capable of effective control over the zone, and will take measures to deal with air threats to protect the security of the country’s airspace.

Related:Air defense identification zone a strategic decision: experts – Xinhua According to the announcement, China will take timely measures to deal with air threats and unidentified flying objects from the sea, including identification, monitoring, control and disposition. “The move also accords with common international practices as the United States and Canada took the lead around the world in setting up such zones starting in the 1950s,” said Xing Hongbo, a military and legal expert, adding that more than 20 countries have set up air defense identification zones since then.

Related:FM spokesman: U.S. should “correct its mistakes” over China’s setup of air defense identification zone – Xinhua A senior Chinese diplomat lodged solemn representation with U.S. ambassador to China Sunday over U.S. response to China’s setup of East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang had lodged representation with U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke, in which China required the U.S. side to correct its mistakes immediately and stop making remarks irresponsibly.

Related:S. Korea expresses regret over China’s air defense zones–The Korea Herald South Korea expressed regret on Sunday over China‘s recently announced air defense zone that partly overlaps with its territory, prompting concerns for a possible dispute between the neighbors. A day earlier, China’s defense ministry announced that it has set up an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, obligating all aircraft entering the area to report to Chinese authorities and follow their instructions.

Related:A Growing Chill Between South Korea and Japan Creates Problems for the U.S. – NYTimes.com Ms. Park’s refusal to budge during that September meeting was one of many recent reminders that the leaders of Japan and South Korea, the United States’ closest military partners in Asia, seem to be barely on speaking terms. Analysts say the current tensions are among the worst in recent years, an increasingly vexing problem for the Obama administration as it struggles to present a united front in dealing with a rising China and a nuclear North Korea.

Related:Defense Minister inadvertently shows confidential dossier on China relations – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Observers got the rare glimpse of the confidential papers when the defense minister was briefing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Nov. 21 at the Lower House, which is currently deliberating the highly contentious state secrets protection bill. The report contained details of a meeting held the previous night in Tokyo between senior Defense Ministry officials, including Onodera, and Cheng Yonghua, China’s ambassador to Japan // or not?

Related:Commentary: Unwavering China-Japan economic relations hardly do without political trust – Xinhua As the second and third largest economies in the world, China and Japan are in need of each other in terms of trade and economic cooperation. However, the momentum has been undermined by the continuity of political uncertainty. According to the Japan External Trade Organization, Japan’s total trade with China dropped 10.8 percent to 147.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2013, down for the first time in four years, while investment to China tumbled 31 percent.

Related:Sinopec’s Qingdao Refinery Disrupted as Blast Death Toll Rises – Bloomberg The 10 million metric-ton-a-year facility will have “some disruptions,” Lv Dapeng, a Beijing-based spokesman for the company known as Sinopec said by phone yesterday, without giving further details. The explosion occurred after oil leaked from the pipeline into Qingdao’s municipal rainwater network. Xinhua News Agency said 136 people are injured and 11 are missing.

Related:China launches sweeping probe as Sinopec blast toll rises | Reuters In an announcement to the Shanghai stock exchange on Monday, Sinopec said it was cooperating with a government investigation into the accident. It said operations were normal and oil supply was stable. The official Xinhua News Service reported that Xi had ordered sweeping safety checks on the oil and gas pipeline network.

Tiananmen Square attack was ‘jihadi operation,’ claims Islamist group – CSMonitor.com The [SITE] service, which tracks Islamist militant statements, said the party had released a Uighur-language audio speech from its leader Abdullah Mansour in which he said such operations by mujahideen, or its holy warriors, were only the beginning of attacks on Chinese authorities…In an eight-minute message, Mansour said Uighur fighters would target even the Great Hall of the People, where the Chinese parliament meets and China’s Communist Party holds legislative and ceremonial activities, SITE said

央视曝万科等45家房企欠缴3.8万亿土地增值税 _新闻_腾讯网CCTV-real estate developers have not paid 3.8 trillion RMB in taxes over the last few years…These developers make fat and popular targets. perhaps the foreign exposes were just warmups to the real show?//然而对国内知名的45家上市房地产公司的企业年报进行分析后发现，这些公司无一例外都有巨额应交而未交的土地增值税。同期，也几乎都有足够的用于缴税的货币资金。而且，不少房地产公司将应交的土地增值税长期未交，只是挂在账上，导致应交土地增值税税额滚雪球般的一年比一年多。其中29家房地产公司，截至2012年12月31日应交未交土地增值税总额已经高达640亿元。 其中，应交未交土地增值税金额排名前十大上市房企分别是(截至2012年12月31日数据)： 雅居乐地产控股有限公司83亿元；SOHO中国有限公司64亿元；广州富力地产股份有限公司58亿元；万科股份有限公司58亿元；深圳华侨城股份有限公司49亿元；招商地产44亿元；合生创展42亿元；融创中国控股有限公司27亿元；金地集团26亿元；新世界中国地产24亿港元。

Captivity in a Chongqing Labor Camp – Caixin I’m going to the Public Security Bureau, and if I don’t come back, plea for justice on behalf of me!” On the afternoon of May 21, 2009 a man named Wang Zhongshuai wrote these words in an Internet chat group. Then 30 years old, the Jilin-born Wang had been working at an advertising company for two years in the Southwestern metropolis of Chongqing. He graduated with a degree in journalism and communication, and since giving a 2007 speech at a forum, had become a vocal critic of ultra-leftist rhetoric…On June 10, 2009, Wang Zhongshuai arrived at the Wanzhou Labor Camp. It is the furthest away among several camps near the main city of Chongqing, administered by four brigades, two independent squadrons, and has an inmate population of nearly 1,000. // 重庆因言获罪者档案

【舒立观察】“财”“政”并举的突破性改革_杂志频道_财新网Hu Shuli says in her weekly Caixin editorial that the mooted fiscal changes in the Third Plenum Decision are breakthrough reforms // 这一切均表明，行将启动的财税改革，看似温和地从“改进预算管理制度”破题，却不啻于一场革命。未来将是极其艰难的博弈过程。而改革者之胜，将胜在钢铁般的决心与高超的专业执行力…在文长两万字的《决定》中，第五章财税改革不足1000字，其中第一条（全文第17条）“改进预算管理制度”不过300字，实施目标为“建立全面规范、公开透明的预算制度”，关键词只有“全面规范、公开透明”八个字，却是重中之重，结合《决定》的其他相关安排，可见“财”“政”并举的改革大布局已经从这里开始。

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

Qualcomm CEO Says NSA Fallout Impacting China Business – WSJ.com Mobile device chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. QCOM +1.74% expects to continue growing in China, but Chief Executive Paul Jacobs acknowledged U.S. restrictions on Chinese companies and revelations about surveillance by the National Security Agency are impacting its business in the fast-growing country. “We are definitely seeing increased pressure,” said Mr. Jacobs in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “All U.S. tech companies are seeing pressure.” Mr. Jacobs stopped short of saying the pressure hurt its sales, but he did say it affected the way the company operated in China.

中国席卷“去思科风”_杂志频道_财新网latest Caixin on the “de-Cisco-ing” of China in wake of Snowden revelations// “棱镜门”后，中国政府虽未明文禁止采购思科设备，但推动本土化的态度明确。思科中国在政企市场领域的份额正被本土厂商分食

Insight: For Cisco and Huawei, a bruising rivalry reaches stalemate One Beijing-based source in the technology industry who declined to be identified because of the subject’s sensitivity said China’s desire to eliminate any dependence on foreign technology wasn’t new, but that the NSA revelations had fostered a new sense of urgency. “I’m not sure the government has fundamentally changed course, but they now have the wind at their backs,” he said.

Evergrande Crowned “Land King of the Year” in Beijing -Caijing Evergrande Group, one of China’s largest real estate developers, has just been crowned “land king of the year” in Beijing, snapping up a plot of residential land at ground-breaking price. Evergrande bid for a piece of land with 20.84 ㎡building area in Chaoyang District, Beijing on Thursday for CNY5.14billion, a premium of 30 percent over the original auction price.

Around China: Xinjiang to embrace era of high-speed rail – Xinhua Officials and industry observers hope the Second Double-track Line of the Lanxin Railway, which links Lanzhou City in northwestern Gansu Province and Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, will bring an economic boom to the region. The 1,776-km line crosses a vast expanse of the Gobi Desert and windy areas — a major technical feat — and will be Xinjiang’s first high-speed railway when it begins operation in 2014. Track laying for the line was completed on Nov. 16.

Hugh Hendry Throws in the Bearish Towel | The Reformed Broker This game is really hard, even for the smartest guys who play it, guys like Hugh Hendry who can get almost all of the facts right and yet still reach a precisely incorrect conclusion. And if that can happen to him, think about how difficult the prediction game can be for the rest of us.

China fights back against U.S. accusations of blocking WTO technology deal | Reuters Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng denounced the United States as “irresponsible” on Sunday after Washington accused China of jeopardizing a deal that aims to cut tariffs on technology products, saying Washington had disappointed participants in the talks…European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht last week said China’s demands were the main outstanding issue in the talks.

The Western devil is in the details of the plenum plan | South China Morning Post–Wang Xiangwei column As it attempts to improve the corruption-riddled judicial system and reduce rampant interference in courts by local officials, the central government is accelerating efforts to set up Chinese versions of US federal circuit courts and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It seems that the leadership will move faster on setting up the circuit courts than the investigative bureau, which is still in the planning stage.

Nearly 1 mln sit national civil servant exam – Xinhua As many as 990,000 candidates took the National Public Servant Exam on Sunday, a decrease of 130,000 from last year, according to the State Administration of Civil Service…One out of 51 exam takers will succeed in gaining a post this year, according to the statement.

Taking on the Task of 5: A Party Veteran on Xi Jinping – NYTimes.com Bao Tong // So, first, there’s the recognition that reform is needed, and, second, there’s the power to undertake reforms. I do think he’s serious about reforms. But whether these reforms can be pushed through will be up to him, and up to whether things go smoothly for him. If he hits setbacks or hardships, then it will be hard to say what happens. If he discovers that the reforms produce outcomes that he didn’t expect, then that will also make it hard to say what will happen. But for now I think he’s upbeat and confidently preparing reforms. He has his own style. You could describe it as Mao Zedong’s style applied to following Deng Xiaoping’s path.

China’s Xi Is No Gorbachev – Bloomberg In his conversation with us, Xi was informal and relaxed. He hadn’t the least air of the stolid technocrats we have become used to over the past decade, but rather that of a fully formed leader prepared to take on what everyone acknowledges are towering challenges. Like Deng or Mao Zedong before him, his remarks were peppered with classical allegories. “Understanding China,” he mused, “is like looking at Lushan Mountain. What you see depends on the angle from which you view it. When you are on the mountain itself, it is very hard to see the whole picture.” Xi invoked Deng more than enough to make the point that he was treading in the former leader’s stead, noting that China was now in the “deep end” of Deng’s reform, which he always said “would last 100 years.”–Nicolas Berggruen is president of the Berggruen Institute on Governance, of which Nathan Gardels is senior adviser

A blueprint for reform: The Xi manifesto | The Economist It is possible, however, that Mr Xi’s power could enable him to force his proposals through. He has signalled that he is taking direct control of domestic security by setting up a “national security commission” (his predecessor, Hu Jintao, ceded this role to a colleague). He is also forming a “leading small group” to steer reforms, again probably under his direct command. A tight grip on security will be a comfort to him: the document, in its calls for controls over the internet, hints at a leadership deeply worried about social unrest and the power of online activism. Mr Xi will envy Deng, who began his reforms in a less raucous era.

China corruption watchdog to target senior officials in revamp | Reuters China’s ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog is to overhaul some of its functions and target all senior officials, as part of reforms to deepen its war on corruption. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said all officials, including members of the party’s decision-making 25-member Politburo and party chiefs from the provinces, were “within the scope of supervision visits”. It would station its officials in all party organs and government departments, the statement on its website said. Previously, only government departments and certain party organs would be supervised by the agency.

China president to promote allies in sweeping reshuffle: sources | Reuters Duowei wrote about this a few days earlier // Li Zhanshu, 63, one of Xi’s closest allies, is the front-runner to replace Han Zheng, 59, as Shanghai’s party boss, the sources said. The party boss outranks the city mayor. “Han Zheng will definitely step down and go to Beijing,” a second source told Reuters, who like the others requested not to be identified to avoid repercussions for discussing secretive elite politics. The sources said Han is tipped to be named to a senior role in the reform committee that Xi is setting up to oversee the reform process. However, Li’s and Han’s appointments are not set in stone, they said.

All for One: Xi Jinping and China’s New Deal – WSJ.com In short, the “Resolution Concerning Some Major Issues in Comprehensively Deepening Reform,” as the Third Plenum document is ponderously titled, attempts to do what many liberals in China and the West believe is impossible: advance both the power of the state and the freedom of the individual. That, say the skeptics, is the unresolved tension that clouds the future of the world’s second-largest economy.

Perry Link–The Long Shadow of Chinese Blacklists on American Academe – The Chronicle of Higher Education The worst part is that I become a tool of the Chinese government and there is nothing I can do about it. Long-term blacklistees, like me and my friend Andrew J. Nathan, a political-science professor at Columbia University, have become known in China studies as examples of what happens to you if you cross a line. Since my blacklisting I have had countless inquiries, especially from younger scholars, who are invariably polite but always want to ask, one way or another, “How do I not end up where you are?”

Google Chair: Russia on China’s Path to Web Censorship | World | RIA Novosti “We’re worried that Russia is on a path” toward a Chinese model of Internet censorship, Schmidt was cited by Cnet.com digital news website as saying. However, Schmidt also said he expected online technologies such as blogs and social networks to usher in a “revolution” in China within a decade despite censorship.

China plays key role of broker in Iran nuclear deal | South China Morning Post China is one of the five UN Security Council committee members who along with Germany negotiated the deal for Tehran to limit uranium enrichment to low levels. Analysts say China pulled off a delicate balancing act in the negotiations between Iran, seen by Beijing as a long-term partner, and the US. Hua Liming, the former Chinese ambassador to Iran, told state media that China acted as a helping broker. “When the two parties came across irresolvable problems, they would come to China, which would ‘lubricate’ the negotiation and put things back on track,” he said.

Australia leaves Huawei standing at the altar | East Asia Forum A final irony is that Australia awarded large NBN contracts to French-based Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel in turn owns 50 per cent of the Chinese-based Shanghai Bell, from which it will undoubtedly source much of the equipment for the Australian project. Not to pick on Alcatel, the truth is that all of the major ‘backbone’ suppliers, including Ericsson and Cisco, source parts, components and whole systems from Chinese factories. So in the end, the question remains: just how much more secure is Australia or any other country after excluding Huawei? –Claude Barfield is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.// Barfield or AEI ever received money, directly or indirectly, from Huawei?

驻日使馆发侨民自愿登记通知 紧急时便于援助_国际新闻_环球网PRC embassy in Japan tells PRC citizens to register with them so as to to make it easier for them to get assistance in event of an emergency// 为海外侨民提供领事保护是中国驻外使领馆的重要职责。为在发生重大突发紧急事件时及时联系侨民并提供协助，最大限度地保护侨民的安全和利益，大使馆决定自即日起开展侨民自愿登记工作。大使馆将依法妥善保管并使用登记人员相关信息，严格保护登记人员个人隐私。//just coincidental timing?

Chinese aircraft company opens first subsidiary overseas – Xinhua The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) on Saturday opened its first wholly-owned overseas subsidiary in the city of Newport Beach, South California in the United States. The COMAC America Corporation aims to further COMAC’s relationship with local civil aviation authorities, aerospace companies and academic institutions, mainly in areas such as airworthiness certification, civil aircraft development and educational training, said Jin Zhuanglong, chairman of the COMAC.

Weak-nation mentality is limiting China’s potential on global stage – Global Times–Amb Wu Jianmin Despite its immense size, China was indeed for many years a weak country. Long-term poverty and hardship has bred a weak-nation mentality throughout the country, characterized by a lack of confidence. China cares too much about external comments, fears being despised, and is eager to showcase its advantages in case they won’t be noticed. This kind of mindset does not match China’s growing status in the world. China needs time and reflection to overcome this mentality. It should put much of its focus into thinking about what the big picture will be, and consider ways to improve self-confidence, while winning the understanding and support of the global population.

Muddy Waters NQ Call Fails to Halt IPOs: China Overnight – Bloomberg Three Chinese companies have debuted on U.S. bourses this month, raising $345.4 million, the most since May 2011, when six companies listed $1.3 billion of shares. 500.com Ltd., an online sports lottery service, raised $75.2 million in an initial public offering. Sungy Mobile Ltd., which makes applications for Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software, sold 7 million shares at $11.22. 58.Com Inc. (WUBA), an online marketplace similar to Craigslist, and travel agency Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd. (QUNR) have sold shares above their price targets since Oct. 30.

Google Can Bring an End to Censorship in 10 Days. Here’s how. | GreatFire.org The simplicity of our solution, however, begs other questions. Why have they not done this before? Google made somewhat of an effort to be diplomatic about their entry into China. When they decided that they would make a partial pullout from China, their announcement was a little less diplomatic. Google knows that they can do this and that there will be nothing that the Chinese authorities can do to stop this short of completely blocking their service. So why have they not pushed the envelope with China, especially when China pushed first?

No Release in Sight for Film Exploring China’s Violence – NYTimes.com When Jia Zhangke screened his new movie, “A Touch of Sin,” for a small group of journalists in his office last August, he said the film would make a round of foreign film festivals in the autumn and then, if all went well, be released on Nov. 9 in China. Now, with winter approaching, there is still no indication that the film will be shown in Chinese theaters.

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

《新世纪》周刊第579期_杂志频道_财新网this week’s Caixin cover story on the initial small step towards relaxing the one child policy, asks how long until it is gotten rid of entirely// 计划生育政策终于调整一步，放开“单独”二胎；全面放开二胎，取消生育限制，这两步还要等多久？

Shanghai survey reveals child policy preferences – Xinhua The survey shows 73.7 percent of citizens approve of the policy change. Roughly 67.1 percent are considering having two children, and 1.8 percent of citizens want three. As for the reasons for wanting more children, 82.1 percent of those in support feel children have a healthier childhood with sisters or brothers.

New Musical Partnership in China – NYTimes.com One of the biggest, but least-tapped markets for classical music and dance — as both an importer and exporter — is China. So this week IMG Artists, a major representative of classical musicians in the West, announced a new partnership with the China Arts and Entertainment Group, a huge arts and entertainment company in China.

Following in the footsteps of the master | South China Morning Post Liang Lu and Li Qi began their careers as reporters, navigating the perilous waters of journalism in Beijing and Shenzhen. Not long after they met, they fell in love and married. After writing books about their travels in China and about their own relationship, they met a Buddhist teacher who deeply affected how they view the world, and the purpose of their lives. They decided to divorce, take up new names, and devote their time to living according to the Buddha’s precepts, even if that means criticising corrupt abbots who embezzle the wealth of monasteries.

China Sports Insider Ep. 2 – Joe Montana interview | The Li-Ning Tower San Francisco 49ers legendary quarterback Joe Montana – he of the FOUR Super Bowl wins – was in China recently to promote the NFL. I got the chance to interview him on top of the Great Wall and asked him about the development of the game in China, when Chinese fans can expect to see a preseason game and how soon it will be until a Chinese born-and-bred player makes it in the NFL

Urbanites Flee China’s Smog for Blue Skies – NYTimes.com had a long chat with someone Saturday afternoon who is in the middle of moving from Beijing to Dali, he bought a nice house there last year, already moved his wife and daughter there…and his wife is bored out her mind// The town of Dali in Yunnan Province, nestled between a wall of 13,000-foot mountains and one of China’s largest freshwater lakes, is a popular destination. Increasingly, the indigenous ethnic Bai people of the area are leasing their village homes to ethnic Han, the dominant group in China, who turn up with suitcases and backpacks. They come with one-way tickets from places like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, all of which have roaring economies but also populations of 15 million people or more.

China Pushing Child Safety Seats to Reduce Accident Toll: Cars – Bloombergoften see little kids on laps in front seat of car…very little knowledge of the risks // China lost almost three times as many children in car accidents as the U.S. last year, even though it has fewer than half the number of vehicles. The government increased penalties this year for failing to fasten seat belts or using a mobile phone while driving. The next step: getting parents to install child-safety seats in a country where only about one in 100 cars have them. The World Health Organization says the seats, which reduce stress to the neck and spinal cord in a crash, can cut deaths by 70 percent.

China’s Shanshan Feng hangs on for LPGA’s biggest purse–USA Today Shanshan Feng, the only player from China to win a major championship, made birdies on four of her first six holes, added two more in the final four holes and shot 6-under-par 66 on the Gold Course at windy Tiburon Golf Club to beat Gerina Piller by one shot and pocket $700,000.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Multiple quakes hit northeast China – Xinhua Three earthquakes measuring 5.0 or greater in magnitude jolted the city of Songyuan in northeast China’s Jilin Province on Friday and Saturday, damaging thousands of houses and rattling villagers out into the cold air.

治霾气短_杂志频道_财新网China in midst of a natural gas shortage, supplies under even more pressure as government pushing to burn cleaner fuel to reduce air pollution// “气荒”的原因每年都相似，今年更因为雾霾天气的环境压力火上浇油

Deals at Climate Meeting Advance Global Effort – NYTimes.com The language grew heated at times by diplomatic standards, with Mr. Stern on Saturday reminding China that it had agreed two years ago that climate action would be “applicable to all parties,” and expressing surprise “that China would be assuming no commitments under the future agreement.” Lead negotiators eventually worked out compromise language — changing the word “commitments” to “contributions” — for 2015 to allow some wiggle room.

Interview: Adam Minter, Author Of ‘Junkyard Planet’ : NPR There are businesses devoted to recycling metal, paper, plastic, oil, textiles, cell phones, computers, motors, batteries, Christmas lights, cars and more. The hidden world of globalized recycling and reclamation, and its impact on the environment and the global economy, is the subject of the new book Junkyard Planet by journalist Adam Minter. Minter tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross that as demand for raw materials grew in Asia, the amount of stuff being thrown away in developed countries, like the U.S. and Japan, also grew.